Dutch lawyer seeks high-level testimony in Fortis case (News Feature)

Amsterdam - Shareholders of former Belgian-Dutch bank and insurance giant Fortis NV want to force all Dutch, Belgian, and Luxemburgian top bankers and politicians who were involved in the bank's nationalization in late 2008 to testify in court. 'We have a list of at least 20 people who were involved in the decisionmaking process of Fortis' nationalization in October 2008,' Dutch attorney Adriaan de Gier told the German Press Agency dpa on Monday. De Gier's law firm, located in Utrecht in the central Netherlands, is representing more than 1,200 private shareholders of Fortis NV. They claim Fortis' nationalization by the Dutch state - which caused its share value to plummet - was 'illegitimate,' resulting in major financial losses. In February, De Gier's law firm formally instituted court proceedings against the Dutch and Belgian states, Fortis Holding, Fortis Bank Netherlands, the Dutch Central Bank DNB, the Dutch financial watchdog AFM and Belgian Federal Participation and Investment Company SFPI. This Wednesday, a court of first instance in Amsterdam will hear De Gier's request to force court-ordered testimony of all top players in the Fortis affair in Dutch public court hearings. 'The Dutch state refuses to let us hear these witnesses,' De Gier said, 'but it is of the utmost importance that we get clarity about the nationalization's decisionmaking process as soon as possible.' If the court rules in De Gier's favour, Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, Dutch finance minister Wouter Bos, Dutch central bank DNB president Nout Wellink and their colleagues from Belgium and Luxembourg will be asked to appear in court to give their sworn testimony about their role in the nationalization process. 'Dutch courts are inclined to permit such public testimony hearings,' De Gier says, adding that he does however expect the court to be 'very critical about the Fortis case.' The Dutch state, meanwhile, has done its utmost to obstruct and delay all legal processes, De Gier says. 'Some of their claims are just too absurd to be true. For example, the Dutch state even claims some of my clients do not exist,' he said, quoting a section from a Dutch state motion to prove his point. 'This is beyond all logic, if only because, as a Dutch lawyer, I am by law required to verify my client's existence and identity.' But, De Gier says, he understands where the Dutch state's attitude comes from. 'If the court would eventually rule in our favour and confirm the Fortis' nationalization was in fact illegitimate, then that will have a massive impact. There will be major repercussions, also politically.' De Gier currently represents some 1,200 clients, who are jointly financing the court case. The total number of Dutch Fortis shareholders reaches to the 'hundreds of thousands,' the attorney says, adding that many Dutch nationals are Fortis shareholders through their pension funds. De Gier says that he is, therefore, expecting 'many more shareholders' to join his class action case if the public testimony hearings take place. The court is expected to rule about six weeks after Wednesday's hearing. If the court decides to permit the witness testimony, it is likely to start in October and take several months. It may take several years until court proceedings against the Dutch and Belgian states and the other defendants will be completed.